Legs
usually riding on Zwift or up steep hills...
- Location
- Staffordshire
Also Seaside Hotel - my Danish has never been so good!
French Grammar
- Thread starter Speicher
- Start date
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Also Seaside Hotel - my Danish has never been so good!
Nothing like a real life motivation to get you going!
Learning from a phrase book (or Duo) because your going on a week's holiday next year is difficult. Too abstract. Try breaking a spoke in rural foreign, that tends to focus the mind on needed vocab!
OP
OP
- Location
- Next door to Mr Benn at No 54
The book with the answers has arrived.
It makes sense to me, to answer the questions in the main book, and then learn from my mistakes.
It makes sense to me, to answer the questions in the main book, and then learn from my mistakes.
Once a Wheeler
…always a wheeler
Just a comment which you may find very useful or absolutely infuriatiing: Set up your mobile phone and your computer to use your target language for its OS. Take your time and work with it. It can be a great help. You may be surprised how quickly you pick it up. 🥐🥐🥐🥐 Reward yourself with a croissant for every day's successful use.
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
This is something I found very useful when I did it. Recommended 👍
I took it to extremes when I got my new car last year and found I could switch the infotainment system to Italian for navigation and all the voice commands. My wife thinks I’m nuts but then finds herself telling me things like, “I think it’s left at this rotonda.” 😄
As I posted on another thread, we had our 7 year old granddaughter staying with us over the Easter half term. Her mum is Chinese and our granddaughter is bilingual. She goes to Chinese lessons on Saturdays as she wants to learn the written language.
I had previously downloaded the " Learn Chinese " app onto my phone and dabbled without much success, but while she was with us thought it an ideal opportunity to try again.
Each morning would start with me making breakfast for her, then we would do " Wordle " together and then finish of with Chinese. Talk about a hard task master, there were exercises where they showed a clip of a native person saying a phrase which you then had to repeat back, I thought that I had " nailed it " ( and the app itself gave me a green tick ) but the granddaughter would say " no grandpa, you said "xxxx" it's "yyyy". I would try again and more often than not, fail again, with granddaughter getting increasingly impatient and vocal😁
Tonal languages are so difficult for me to get a grip on as you " hear " yourself and not what the other person is hearing.
I had previously downloaded the " Learn Chinese " app onto my phone and dabbled without much success, but while she was with us thought it an ideal opportunity to try again.
Each morning would start with me making breakfast for her, then we would do " Wordle " together and then finish of with Chinese. Talk about a hard task master, there were exercises where they showed a clip of a native person saying a phrase which you then had to repeat back, I thought that I had " nailed it " ( and the app itself gave me a green tick ) but the granddaughter would say " no grandpa, you said "xxxx" it's "yyyy". I would try again and more often than not, fail again, with granddaughter getting increasingly impatient and vocal😁
Tonal languages are so difficult for me to get a grip on as you " hear " yourself and not what the other person is hearing.
When I moved to France I knew next to no French. Living and working on a vine farm and wine factory, I had to learn, PDQ. I started as the French learn, with basic children’s books, one about the adventures of a cat was a favourite, also Beatrix Potter translated into the language of Richelieu, grammar was learnt at the same time, with stress on the genders, mumbling l’ doesn’t cut it. Moving on to Petit Spirou and finally cycling and railway magazines, using something you are interested in makes it far easier. I first spoke French to the cat, then I was let loose in the detail, selling wine to the Yanks* and British. The thing that amused me about the Brits especially, was their pronunciation, a sort of French equivalent of Cholmondly-Warner, presumably learned from ‘50s books and film strips. Just you try calling a French waiter “boy”…
* Les Donalds as the French called them, apparently if you can’t speak much English the American accent sounds like ducks quacking.
* Les Donalds as the French called them, apparently if you can’t speak much English the American accent sounds like ducks quacking.
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
This is a top tip which I've used, too.
A really useful children's book for me was La mia prima enciclopedia illustrata. Topics covered were already part of my knowledge and were explained in simple terms, so it was fairly easy to understand and and take in sentence structure etc.
Also, social interaction is crucial for language acquisition. (Lev Vygotsky)
Unless you actively engage in the target language in as many social settings as possible, your progress will be slow.
Not heard/read that name in a while! But, yes, I'd agree that getting out and actually talking with real people is hugely important - and not just for language learning. Mental health and well being too.
Looked at another way, take the focus off the language learning bit (if you can) and put it elsewhere, and learn the language almost as a byproduct. Get a job like @Hover Fly did. I joined a cycling club. My wife went to pottery classes. The language learning becomes almost secondary, a tool required to do the primary task. Of course, it helps if you have some basics in place first but you'll make good progress.
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Wot @yello said. And by the way, it's 'French grammar' not 'French Grammar'!
